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Review: A House with Good Bones by T. Kingfisher (read by Mary Robinette Kowal)

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Y’all, this one was fun.

Our main character, Samantha, is an archeo-entomologist and she is on hiatus from her job at a dig site because they found human remains. Since she can’t work until the remains are identified and dealt with according to the wishes of living family or the they’re repatriated to the tribal nation to whom they belong and since she’s sublet her apartment in Arizona for six months, Sam decides to stay in North Carolina with her mother.

When she returns to her mother’s house, she finds it off. Where the things had previously been bright and cheerful, they’re now cold and sterile. And her mother seems to be more anxious than she’s ever seen her before. But, she and her mother settle into a little routine of boxed wine and British detective shows. But things get weird. And then they get weirder. And then they get weirder still. Sam ends up having to play detective on her own so she can figure out if she’s going crazy, if there is something wrong with her mother (maybe both!), or if there’s something very, very wrong with the house.

I didn’t mean to pick two books more or less in a row where an unsettling living situation was part of the plot, but I’m glad I did. This is more Southern Gothic vibes than Gothic horror, but it was still good. The chilling parts of the plot were chilly and the weird parts of the plot were indeed unexpected and weird. I really like T. Kingfisher’s novels. Something that is true about both this and Hollow Places is that they have a protagonist who is an accomplished woman who, for varying reasons, has to return home. And I liked that Sam was a Ph.D. and that her speciality was part of the plot. Insects aren’t really my jam, but its fun to see people, even fictional people, get excited about what makes them excited.

So, if you like creepy stories about family and home situations that are not quite right, I recommend this. I do have a little warning, though, if swarms of bugs are a big nope for you, there is some swarming.

It was a fun read! This was another book that I got from my local library!

Quick Review: Nettle and Bone by T. Kingfisher

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This book is a fairy tale and it is a book of Revenge. Which I kinda like. Marra is the youngest princess from a small country. Her Country is always in precarious position. It has an important port that the two bigger kingdoms on either side of them want to control. Her mom, the Queen makes an arrangement with the Prince in the kingdom to the north. She marries her oldest daughter to him and in return, he promises protection from the kingdom from attacking. Unfortunately, Marra’s sister dies within a year of marrying the prince so the second oldest princess marries the prince and Marra is sent to the convent so she doesn’t marry and have an heir that potential could have a claim on the small kingdom. This is alright with Marra as she never wanted to be in the chess game of being a princess. She likes living in the convent and being herself. She learns useful skills and has the freedom she never had before. That was before her niece dies and she realizes how much her sister is suffering in her marriage. Her sister is in a constant state of pregnancy because she is less likely to be abused by the prince when she is pregnant. The prince doesn’t want to risk losing his heir but Marra worries that the constant pregnancies or the prince will kill her sister. She sets out to save her by planning to kill the prince and save her sister but she can’t do it alone. She seeks out a powerful gravewitch who agrees to help if Marra can complete 3 impossible tasks and of course she does. On the way to the North Kingdom, they build a team. A dog made of bones, a former knight, a possessed chicken and fairy godmother. They are all delightful in their own ways. If this ever gets made into a movie. I do hope that Dame Judy Dench plays the gravewitch and Dame Helen Mirren plays the fairy godmother. Anyways, Marra is a girl or no real ambition. She doesn’t want to be a princess and every time she is asked to do anything in a official capacity it chaffs at her but she doesn’t hesitate to what she needs to do save her sister. She also realizes that she can’t do it alone and seeks the help she needs. I think this is a good lesson for all of us. To know that we are not alone and help is available. Even if it is to kill a prince. So this was a fun read. I enjoyed it.